Tefl in South Korea

cloneslad

I'm out after this contract finishes. The only reason I came back if because my boss asked me to come back, I didn't go searching for another job in Korea, I was offered it and with little looking good back home I decided to take it.

It's time to go home and see the family, lots of little nephews and neices are starting to accrue in mine and my g.f families so I want to see them. I don't know if I will stay in Ireland but I think I will stay reasonably close to it, maybe go to London and see what's happening there.

Cole

livinginkorea wrote: »

Generally, recruiters barely read your CV/Resume so keep it short and too the point.

My CV is 3 pages, mainly due to my employment details. Would you suggest leaving out my employment history and just refer to specific jobs/experience(as SpatialPlanning recommended), which I think may be relevant to teaching?

It's most likely that I will target adult teaching jobs.

livinginkorea

Cole wrote: »

My CV is 3 pages, mainly due to my employment details. Would you suggest leaving out my employment history and just refer to specific jobs/experience(as SpatialPlanning recommended), which I think may be relevant to teaching?

It's most likely that I will target adult teaching jobs.

If you are targeting adults then design your resume to highlight those aspects related to adult teaching. The same for kids. I used to have two resumes, one for hagwons, one for companies. No harm to have a couple done up. Saves you time later on. If you want to post up your resume (minus the personal details of course) then people here could give some comments to help out.

LimerickJoe

Hello Cloneslad and LivinginKorea,

I had a 1 hour skype chat again last night with the Irish lad and he was sound but didn't fill me with too much confidence about taking the job. He admitted they are extremely overworked compared to other schools in Daegu.
I didn't take it in the end, I was talking to another lad on facebook who knew the last teacher to work there who left because of long 10 hour days.

I have a job interview for a school shortly for this Hagwon Franchise near Seoul. Long enough hours or standard?

AVALON English
Company: ATC Avail Teachers Consulting
Job ID: 758
Location: Uijeong bu, Seoul, Korea
Work Days: Mon-Fri
Class Level: Elementary , Middle
Housing: Single
Starting Date: mid. of Nov, 2010
Benefits Provided:
Round Trip Airfare , Health Insurance(50%) , National Pension Plan , Serverance pay
Salary: ￦2.1-
Contact Email: ask@teachersbus.com
Working Hours:
2:00-10:00pm
3:00-11:00
Post date: Apr 5
# of Foreign Teachers: 200
Vacation: 10 days + National holiday days/year
It’s also the “franchise” campus in Seoul.
So please think about it and let me know what do you think!


I also have a job interview in the morning for a public school position in

(PUBLIC SCHOOL)
Location:YongCheon City,Kyeong sang bookdo
working hours: 9-5pm
teaching elementary -middle school students
start datE: Late October
salary:2.1-2.4
a single housing
21 paid holidays/1.3million won flight(each way)/relocation fee..
4 foreign teachers


What do ye think guys?

cloneslad

LimerickJoe wrote: »

Hello Cloneslad and LivinginKorea,

I had a 1 hour skype chat again last night with the Irish lad and he was sound but didn't fill me with too much confidence about taking the job. He admitted they are extremely overworked compared to other schools in Daegu.
I didn't take it in the end, I was talking to another lad on facebook who knew the last teacher to work there who left because of long 10 hour days.

I have a job interview for a school shortly for this Hagwon Franchise near Seoul. Long enough hours or standard?

AVALON English
Company: ATC Avail Teachers Consulting
Job ID: 758
Location: Uijeong bu, Seoul, Korea
Work Days: Mon-Fri
Class Level: Elementary , Middle
Housing: Single
Starting Date: mid. of Nov, 2010
Benefits Provided:
Round Trip Airfare , Health Insurance(50%) , National Pension Plan , Serverance pay
Salary: ￦2.1-
Contact Email: ask@teachersbus.com
Working Hours:
2:00-10:00pm
3:00-11:00
Post date: Apr 5
# of Foreign Teachers: 200
Vacation: 10 days + National holiday days/year
It’s also the “franchise” campus in Seoul.
So please think about it and let me know what do you think!


I also have a job interview in the morning for a public school position in

(PUBLIC SCHOOL)
Location:YongCheon City,Kyeong sang bookdo
working hours: 9-5pm
teaching elementary -middle school students
start datE: Late October
salary:2.1-2.4
a single housing
21 paid holidays/1.3million won flight(each way)/relocation fee..
4 foreign teachers


What do ye think guys?

me personally??

The public school every day of the week. Sweeter hours, better pay (i'd assume) and you won't get lost in the franchise owned, very profit minded business of Avalon.

Must be one hell of a public school to have 4 foreign teachers there.

yeongcheon is nowhere near Seoul (don't know if that bothers you) it's in the Gyeongsangbuk do. I live in gyeongsangnam do (nam meaning south, buk meaning north) so you would be in the northern part of the gyeongsang province.

It is quite rural but I'd imagine it still has the usual amenities...cinema, homeplus or e-mart etc etc.

Daegu and Gyeong ju are prob about an hour/ hour and a half away and busan about 2-2 1/2 hours away. Buses should be easy enough and it could be on the train line ( i'm not too sure though)

LimerickJoe

Thanks Cloneslad for that feedback.
I just had my interview with Avalon school near Seoul now.
It is a brand new campus they are opening. Hiring a minimum of 10 new teachers, starting 1st December. Orientation starts november 22nd for nearly 2 weeks of training. They have a set curriculum that all the Avalon schools work from.

The lady was very nice and helpful with all my questions, an American woman, they seem to be very well organised anyway. She said nearly all the teachers at the branch near by are there 2 or 3 years now. I asked about working hours 2- 10 or half hour earlier or later each way depending. 120 hours a month, but they run 7 x 50 minute classes per day. She said you will usually teach less than 7 classes a day.

I agree with you about the public school position, I am leaning that way as the holidays 21 days are great, work conditions and working hours seem great. She is sending me the email address of the other foreign teachers so it all seems really above board. She sent photos of the school campus and it looks great.
Yes she said it is a city so it has everything you could need to have a decent social life and it is near beside all the railway systems so transport to other cities looks very accessible for weekends away and travelling.

Avalon won't let me know until next friday if they are going to hire me or not. Whereas I will need to decide fast enough about the public school job because they need a teacher as soon as possible.

Thanks for the feedback

Joe

livinginkorea

Go for the public school Joe. Definitely looks a lot better than any hagwon job around, especially with the schedule and holidays. I would ask for a contract if you want to check some details.

Quite possibly they want somebody ASAP as it's October already so by the time you get there the fall semester will be half over.

I say go for it.

livinginkorea

LimerickJoe wrote: »

...


Post date: Apr 5
# of Foreign Teachers: 200
Vacation: 10 days + National holiday days/year



What do ye think guys?

Wow must be a small village of native speakers there

cloneslad

Take the public job.

Accept it now, then look to get in touch with the foreign teacher. The only thing you are going to need to know from him / her is what to bring, what resources are available, where you will be living, accomodation etc etc.

You don't need to know anything that could persuade you out of not taking it.

It's a public school job, you are guaranteed to be paid, you will get insurance etc paid too so don't worry about those things.

Accept the job and you will be over here in 2-3 weeks, hopefully this is with the same recruiter that has your documents (or else you have them back).


For anyone else saying it's difficult to get a job in Korea............He has just had 4 offered to him in the space of a week. It doesn't seem like a tight market at all.

LimerickJoe

cloneslad wrote: »

Take the public job.

Accept it now, then look to get in touch with the foreign teacher. The only thing you are going to need to know from him / her is what to bring, what resources are available, where you will be living, accomodation etc etc.

You don't need to know anything that could persuade you out of not taking it.

It's a public school job, you are guaranteed to be paid, you will get insurance etc paid too so don't worry about those things.

Accept the job and you will be over here in 2-3 weeks, hopefully this is with the same recruiter that has your documents (or else you have them back).


For anyone else saying it's difficult to get a job in Korea............He has just had 4 offered to him in the space of a week. It doesn't seem like a tight market at all.

Ya cheers Cloneslad, that's sound advice again.
Yes there are definitely jobs available, it's really picked up for me recently with job interviews. It was very quiet for a period before that. I was getting job offers but they never got to interview stage because they fell through.

Tiger English has been worse than useless for me, 1 job offer in 4 months in an extremely rural area where the interviewer practically gave me the vibe , you'd be mad to come here! However I've heard T.E is good for female teachers and once they do get you a job they are a very good company that looks after their teachers. My advice is just apply for as many jobs as possible on Daveseslcafe and workandplay etc. You will make some good recruiter contacts there.

Here is a recruitment agency run by an Irish guy in Korea called Dave Cooney that was passsed onto me by one of his mates today and is supposed to be very good and has plenty of jobs I'm told.
www.teachersforsouthkorea.com

LimerickJoe

Accept the job and you will be over here in 2-3 weeks, hopefully this is with the same recruiter that has your documents (or else you have them back).

That is another worry I have Cloneslad. The recruiter who was trying to get me that bad job in Daegu has already sent my visa documents to the hagwon.
She assures me they will post them back to my recruiter friend Krystal who I know I can trust to look after them. So hopefully the Hagwon owner will post them back and doesn't bin them because I wouldn't come work for his school.
I was too quick to say Yes to that job because I thought I wouldn't get any other job and I thought how bad could it be til I got more reviews telling me DO NOT TAKE IT . I hope that they will have the decency in them to send my documents back and not hold a grudge because they couldn't sign me.

I will take the public school job after my interview with them in the morning and I'm depending on my documents getting sent onto them quickly! I'll miss out on the public school job if I get messed around though so it's touch or go !

Cole

LimerickJoe wrote: »

Here is a recruitment agency run by an Irish guy in Korea called Dave Cooney that was passsed onto me by one of his mates today and is supposed to be very good and has plenty of jobs I'm told.
www.teachersforsouthkorea.com

Keep these links for recommended recruiters coming everyone (or at least ones that you think look half decent). This one looks promising.
http://www.esljkorea.com/index.html

cloneslad

I hope it works out for you joe, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to go to the garda station and ask them for another background check, This would save you having to worry about having that, plus it's free so it can't hurt to have it.

Everything else can be gathered and stamped in a day or two anyway.

livinginkorea

I definitely agree with what Cloneslad said about getting extras. Never any harm to have them in the bag coming over with you. It takes a lot longer and more exensive to post from Korea and just in case the job goes pear shapped you can always have your documents ready for another interview (you are getting plenty of them now - you must be getting good at them!).

LimerickJoe

I had my interview for the public school job. I think it went very well. I will gather another garda background check and request another letter from my university verifying my degree tomorrow so I have a back up on my documents.

Cheers lads

Choccie Lover

I agree with Clones Lad and Limerick Joe. Things have seriously picked up in the last week or so. It seems like a good time to apply for anyone considering it.

Clones Lad, have you heard of a school called BBS Language School in Geoje City. You live there, right? They want an interview with me and although I'm considering a job offer elsewhere, the lure of Geoje City is quite appealing!

Well done Limerick Joe! I'm rooting for you:)

Choccie Lover

Also, like Clones Lad says, most schools are still asking for transcripts, so for anyone job hunting I highly advise getting them to be on the safe side.

Is there anyone on this forum who has applied for a visa recently? I've got my apostille stamps on my Garda Check and Degree (as instructed by the Korean Embassy). But a potential employer is now advising me to get both of them notarised as well (although the Korean embassy told me it wasn't necessary). I know it would appear that I should just listen to the embassy, but I just seem to be hearing conflicting things from all quarters. The stress!!!

LimerickJoe

Ya thing's have really picked up, I even got offered a job from Tiger English in an urban area close to Busan, I think it could be the same job as you got offered Choiccie cause it's Geoije city.

Anyway I am signing a contract today for Public school job in Yeongcheong.

I talked to the teachers there and although they have to be in school from 9 - 5, they only teach 5 x 35 minute short classes. I'm told it's not a stressful job and it's a nice area, good accommodation and only about 30 mins from Daegu. So happy day's , fingers crossed! I'm still worried something will go wrong so I'll never say I definitely have it just yet.

Thanks Choiccie .

Talk soon

Choccie Lover

How strange! Yes, actually my brief says that another teacher would be starting at the same time. Hey, we could have been colleagues:)

Yeah, I'm just waiting to hear back from the current teachers at the school where I was offered a job. Fingers crossed. But as I said, the Geoje gig is haunting me a little. That said, I'm not too fond of the 2-10 working hours at the school and am more of a kindergarten/elementary kind of girl! Some of us do exist:) . I wonder should I accept the interview to hedge my bets. I have too much of a conscience for this business and hate wasting people's time!

It's funny, the first time I went to Korea I could barely even locate it on a map, took the first job I was offered, didn't research the school or area, swanned over, landed in a great school and had a fantastic year (really wanted a different location this time though). This time, I'm fretting over visa documents, nitpicking every job, looking at alternatives. The cautious nature of getting old!

alan_slane

Hey! I applied to EPIK and I have an interview scheduled. I was just wondering how I get my criminal background check? The form says that I need documents actually requesting it or something! :-(

Alan.

virmilitaris

Hey guys, just to recommend a position.

http://hiexpat.com/korea-teaching-job/detail_job/18139-we-re-looking-for-professional-esl-teachers

Good location in the middle of Seoul and good conditions. Teaching Adults only.

They say you must have over one years experience so just tell them you worked as an English tutor in <insert non-English speaking country here>

Oh yes and that website, http://hiexpat.com/korea-teaching-job, is quite good. It's only started out this year AFAIK but it's already quite popular with recruiters.

virmilitaris

alan_slane wrote: »

Hey! I applied to EPIK and I have an interview scheduled. I was just wondering how I get my criminal background check? The form says that I need documents actually requesting it or something! :-(

Alan.

Call into your local gardai station and give them a list of your residences for the past few years.

cloneslad

Choccie Lover wrote: »

Clones Lad, have you heard of a school called BBS Language School in Geoje City. You live there, right? They want an interview with me and although I'm considering a job offer elsewhere, the lure of Geoje City is quite appealing!

I don't believe I have heard of it. if you find out the names of the teachers there then there is a good chance might know them / know of them.

I can't recommend geoje highly enough. The group of foreigners here is awesome. There is always something going on and there are about 10 irish people around the area at the minute too.

I live in gohyeon, which is the biggest city on the island. There is enough things to do here, we have homeplus, VIPS, starbucks, mcdonalds, kfc, many other coffee shops, beaches close by, lots of great restaurants (italian, thai, indian, turkish, russian) a cinema (had 2, but one closed a few months ago).

We also have a new department store opening up in the next month or two, so we will get another few restaurants and shops thrown in for good measure.


You would never be more than 15 minutes from a beach which is great for summer. the water is warm enough to swim in from may to october and it's how I spent a lot of my mornings before school in may,june, and July (didn't go in august cos it's packed with people and I did a morning English camp).

There is only one small problem we are having at the minute, some of the bars in gohyeon (2 of them) have stopped serving us, they don't like having groups of foreigners as, apparently, it stops the locals from coming in. The worst part of this is that one bar is a WA bar, which styles itself on being a western bar.

Okpo, the other large city on Geoje has a never ending amount of western bars and smut going on. They have an irish bar there too, (15-20% discount for teachers). Okpo is full of engineers from Eastern Europe and Britain.

The benefit of having them in Okpo is that we now have 3 foreign food markets close by, Homeplus stock much more western food than they do in other cities and with them being in okpo, they keep all the seedy stuff there in one small area.

Oh, at the minute it takes about 45 minutes to get to Busan by ferry, or around 2 hours by road. But the new bridge that has been due to open for the past 2 years will be completed by december 15th (or there abouts) leaving busan only an hour away by road.

If you find out any information about the school then let me know. It may be new. If you are replacing new people, when does your contract start?

SpatialPlanning

Choccie Lover wrote: »

Also, like Clones Lad says, most schools are still asking for transcripts, so for anyone job hunting I highly advise getting them to be on the safe side.

Is there anyone on this forum who has applied for a visa recently? I've got my apostille stamps on my Garda Check and Degree (as instructed by the Korean Embassy). But a potential employer is now advising me to get both of them notarised as well (although the Korean embassy told me it wasn't necessary). I know it would appear that I should just listen to the embassy, but I just seem to be hearing conflicting things from all quarters. The stress!!!

The purpose of the apostille stamp is to verify the credentials of whoever signed your document. http://www.dfa.ie/home/index.aspx?id=268#1

You don't need to get your garda check notarised again because it comes already signed and stamped by the local superintendent.

As regards the degree, I was under the impression that you have to get it notarised before you get it apostilled? Well for me, I got my copy signed and stamped by a solicitor and then got it apostilled by the DFA. The apostille on mine confirms that the solicitor is a practising solicitor in Ireland.

What does the apostille on your degree say?

Regardless of this I would just go with what the embassy says. If all else fails, you can easily get it notarised in 10 mins in any solicitors office and apostilled again if necessary.

alan_slane

Thanks!

Choccie Lover

Sounds like Geoje City is a great place to teach. Can’t find anything on the school but maybe I should go ahead with the interview all the same. I prefer the conditions of my current job offer, but still haven’t heard back from the other teachers yet and won’t accept it until I do so. I’ll let you know how it pans out. The Geoje job starts early December so it’s ages in advance.

The visa is causing me so much stress. I must sound like a total worry wart, but I can’t seem to find a straight answer from anywhere. I’ve written a long rambling description below, so if anybody can clarify anything for me, it would be much appreciated. It’s a bit of an epic.

Here is what the legislation post September 1st says:
The visa documents we require are as follows:
1. Copy of your passport
2. From September 1st on, Korean Immigration will no longer require or accept Original Degree scrolls/certificates. Instead you must send one of these following options;
a. Photocopy of your Degree Scroll/Certificate with an Apostille Stamp or
b. If you’re a Canadian, you need to submit your University Letter to the Korean embassy for notarization/authentication instead of an Apostille Stamp
3. 4 Colour passport photos
4. Medical History form (Attached with this email)
5. Police Check + Apostille stamp (Please ensure it has an Apostille stamp on it / for Canadians please get it notarized/authenticated by the Korean Embassy)
If you have any problems with any of these documents, please let me know. There is further information on our website and the attachments to this email.


So a couple of weeks ago I rang the embassy, quoting all this information back to her. I said to the lady “So I get a photocopy of my degree and get the apostille stamp on the photocopy?” She said “ No, please get the apostille stamp on your original diploma. If you don’t want to send off this original diploma for your visa, you must come out to the Korean Embassy. We will then photocopy your degree with the apostille stamp, then we will stamp this photocopy with the embassy seal and you can use this for your visa.” I asked her if I needed to get it notarized. She said no. (I also rang her a couple of days later asking her the same question again just to be sure I didn’t pick her up wrong). I followed her instructions, and talked to her in person at the embassy. Job done. Happy days or so I thought!

I also asked her if transcripts were necessary. She didn’t seem to know at first and then confirmed that they weren’t.

While I was there, I asked her about my Garda Cert. She said that I didn’t need to get it notarized, just the apostille stamp (Note it took the guards 3 weeks to get my cert back to me,)

Anyway, as I said I’ve been offered a job at a school (everything I have read online about the school has been great, just waiting on hearing from current teachers). I applied directly to the school and she wanted to get an idea on my document progress. I told her I’m all sorted. She asked “So, you have your transcripts?” I said “No” She said “Get them” (not quiet as bluntly as I have written J In fact, she’s lovely ) She then asked “So you have your Police Cert which is notarized and has an apostille stamp?”. I said “No notarisation” She said “Get it” (again in a friendly manner J). She then said “So you have your original diploma ready to send”? I said “Well, I have my diploma but I’ll send you the photocopy of it with all the necessary stamps” She said to send the original diploma instead (she had some explanation as to why this is better at the moment and to avoid the problem of having the photocopy sent back to me and delaying the visa. I was too frazzled at that point to take it in).


Can I get notarization on documents after getting apostille stamps on them? Or do I have to go through the hassle and expense of doing it all again?

Should I send my original degree if I go ahead with this job? I think this lady has been burned before with visa horror stories, so maybe that’s why she is pushing me on sending the original. (Also, if I do send the original degree, do I need to get it notarized, bearing in mind the original now has an apostille stamp on it?)


OK that’s the end of my convoluted tale!!

cloneslad

don't send your original degree, it's not needed now and it was never needed in the past. A copy is fine, tell her you can't send your original as you don't want it lost at any stage.

A copy is 100% allowed. Trust me. I have never sent an original.

As for the transcripts. Your best of getting them, making copies and sealing them up and getting them stamped by the university. although it says on the new rules that you don't need them, lots of schools are still looking for them, in fact the local immigration website for our area still have on their website that transcripts are needed. BUT and this is a big but when our principal called them today to find out if they were needed (as I told her they aren't anymore) she was told that transcripts are no longer required as part of the visa process.

Fretser

Hey guys, i really hope ye are right when ye say that it seems to be picking up on the job front. I have been applying for a good few weeks now with little to no luck, so fingers crossed something will turn up. I'm finishing my job tomorrow and hope to be in Korea in November.

I have all my docs together now (got transcripts too just in case) I got a copy of my degree notarised and apostilled, garda just apostille. I have to say i did get the whole run around and conflicting versions of what was required document wise too.

Guys thanks again for the info ye have put up on this thread it really has been a life saver. I will keep ye posted if i get any offers.
Best of luck Joe on your application hope it woks out for ya, I can't blame you for being a bit apprehensive after reading your posts.

Fingers and toes crossed, I'm like Chuck Norris now where I no longer sleep, but just wait.

SpatialPlanning

Choccie Lover wrote: »

Sounds like Geoje City is a great place to teach. Can’t find anything on the school but maybe I should go ahead with the interview all the same. I prefer the conditions of my current job offer, but still haven’t heard back from the other teachers yet and won’t accept it until I do so. I’ll let you know how it pans out. The Geoje job starts early December so it’s ages in advance.

The visa is causing me so much stress. I must sound like a total worry wart, but I can’t seem to find a straight answer from anywhere. I’ve written a long rambling description below, so if anybody can clarify anything for me, it would be much appreciated. It’s a bit of an epic.

Here is what the legislation post September 1st says:
The visa documents we require are as follows:
1. Copy of your passport
2. From September 1st on, Korean Immigration will no longer require or accept Original Degree scrolls/certificates. Instead you must send one of these following options;
a. Photocopy of your Degree Scroll/Certificate with an Apostille Stamp or
b. If you’re a Canadian, you need to submit your University Letter to the Korean embassy for notarization/authentication instead of an Apostille Stamp
3. 4 Colour passport photos
4. Medical History form (Attached with this email)
5. Police Check + Apostille stamp (Please ensure it has an Apostille stamp on it / for Canadians please get it notarized/authenticated by the Korean Embassy)
If you have any problems with any of these documents, please let me know. There is further information on our website and the attachments to this email.


So a couple of weeks ago I rang the embassy, quoting all this information back to her. I said to the lady “So I get a photocopy of my degree and get the apostille stamp on the photocopy?” She said “ No, please get the apostille stamp on your original diploma. If you don’t want to send off this original diploma for your visa, you must come out to the Korean Embassy. We will then photocopy your degree with the apostille stamp, then we will stamp this photocopy with the embassy seal and you can use this for your visa.” I asked her if I needed to get it notarized. She said no. (I also rang her a couple of days later asking her the same question again just to be sure I didn’t pick her up wrong). I followed her instructions, and talked to her in person at the embassy. Job done. Happy days or so I thought!

I also asked her if transcripts were necessary. She didn’t seem to know at first and then confirmed that they weren’t.

While I was there, I asked her about my Garda Cert. She said that I didn’t need to get it notarized, just the apostille stamp (Note it took the guards 3 weeks to get my cert back to me,)

Anyway, as I said I’ve been offered a job at a school (everything I have read online about the school has been great, just waiting on hearing from current teachers). I applied directly to the school and she wanted to get an idea on my document progress. I told her I’m all sorted. She asked “So, you have your transcripts?” I said “No” She said “Get them” (not quiet as bluntly as I have written J In fact, she’s lovely ) She then asked “So you have your Police Cert which is notarized and has an apostille stamp?”. I said “No notarisation” She said “Get it” (again in a friendly manner J). She then said “So you have your original diploma ready to send”? I said “Well, I have my diploma but I’ll send you the photocopy of it with all the necessary stamps” She said to send the original diploma instead (she had some explanation as to why this is better at the moment and to avoid the problem of having the photocopy sent back to me and delaying the visa. I was too frazzled at that point to take it in).


Can I get notarization on documents after getting apostille stamps on them? Or do I have to go through the hassle and expense of doing it all again?

Should I send my original degree if I go ahead with this job? I think this lady has been burned before with visa horror stories, so maybe that’s why she is pushing me on sending the original. (Also, if I do send the original degree, do I need to get it notarized, bearing in mind the original now has an apostille stamp on it?)


OK that’s the end of my convoluted tale!!

Your CBC comes notarised and you got it apostilled so don't worry about that.

Transcripts are not a legal requirement for an E2 visa anymore, but some schools still request them (the school that is hiring me - EPIK - did). Better to try and get a few copies sent out to you just in case.

No need for the original degree. The copy of your degree should be notarised and apostilled. You said that you have it apostilled already? What does the apostille on it say??

SpatialPlanning

Fretser wrote: »

Hey guys, i really hope ye are right when ye say that it seems to be picking up on the job front. I have been applying for a good few weeks now with little to no luck, so fingers crossed something will turn up. I'm finishing my job tomorrow and hope to be in Korea in November.

I have all my docs together now (got transcripts too just in case) I got a copy of my degree notarised and apostilled, garda just apostille. I have to say i did get the whole run around and conflicting versions of what was required document wise too.

Guys thanks again for the info ye have put up on this thread it really has been a life saver. I will keep ye posted if i get any offers.
Best of luck Joe on your application hope it woks out for ya, I can't blame you for being a bit apprehensive after reading your posts.

Fingers and toes crossed, I'm like Chuck Norris now where I no longer sleep, but just wait.

I was in the same boat myself. Got no offers for the first month or so, then got loads in the space of two or 3 weeks. The more recruiters you are signed up with the better your chances. I literally ended up signed up with about 25-30 recruiters. Good luck with it anyway!

livinginkorea

When it rains it pours!

Choccie Lover

Thanks for the visa feedback from everyone.

In answer to your question Spatial Planning. The apostille stamp is something like this:

APOSTILLE
(Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961)

1. Country Ireland
2. This public document has been signed by ......................
3. acting in the capacity of ........................
4. bears the seal/ stamp of ( has name of my uni)
5. at Dublin . 6. the (date)
7. by the Department of Foreign Affairs.
8. No (random list of numbers)
9. Seal/Stamp (Dept. of Foreign Affairs Stamp)
10. Signature of the person in question


So just to clarify, the actual apostille stamp is on my original diploma.
What I now have is a photocopy of this document which I got stamped at
the Korean Embassy in Dublin.

It seems everyone else on this forum has the apostille stamp on the photocopy
of their diploma. This is what I envisaged I had to do (based on how the new
legislation is written), but as I said, after two calls to the embassy and calling over
there in person for their stamp, they told me otherwise (and said the notarisation
wasn't necessary).

Now, it seems I'm the only one on this thread without the notarisation. I presume
I can't just get my photocopy notarised now (to be on the safe side) as I presume
the date is on the Korean seal (can't make that out as I don't see figures). I can
write/understand a little hangul though. Syllable per syllable the seal says something
like "won bon de jo pil". Then there is something in handwriting which isn't very legible.
The only one I can make out is the second last syllable "ji".

Any further thoughts on that anyone? I could probably go to Dublin early next week
and do the whole expensive rigmarole again, but could lose a job opportunity in the
meantime because of the delays. Would you just trust the embassy and send them off?

Sorry for another long-winded mail folks.

Sabastien

Right, Im actually in Korea right now. Working at a hagwon in Seoul.

I'm doing a visa transfer soon, I have LOR, all that craic, I just need to get my degree notarised and apostilled.

Apparantly, I can do that over here, but I try to avoid Korean bureacracy when at all possible (you will find out why when you get over here for those not yet arrived) so was thinking of just getting my mom to print my degree as saved on the computer.

Now, for anyone that's processed their visa sucsessfully (not what you've heard, you will soon discover that nothing is set in stone in Korea, it all depends on the person your talking to, his mood on the day and the alignment of the stars), how do you go about getting the copy of your degree notarised. I know how to get the garda cert apostilled, that's handy enough at Dept. of Foreign Affairs.

It's just this whole notarsing business that throws me. Can any solicitor do it? Does it have to go to the Supreme Court or something?

Appreciate the advice from anyone that's gone through the rigmarole.

ARGINITE

Dept. of Foreign Affairs should do it for you.

Sabastien

nah, Dept. of Foreign Affairs apostille it. I need to get the document notarised first. I think there different things and two different processes. I could be wrong.

cloneslad

I always got my degree copy signed (notarised) by a commissioner of oaths then stamped by the dept of foreign affairs. The foreign affairs people just stamp it saying that the guy who signed it and stamped it originally is a verified commissioner of oaths since whatever date they became one.

It's always worked for me, but this was before the new legislation came into play.

Sabastien

Who or what is a Commissioner of Oaths? I really prefer this option. God forbid I have to do it in Korea.

cloneslad

Choccie Lover wrote: »

the date is on the Korean seal (can't make that out as I don't see figures). I can
write/understand a little hangul though. Syllable per syllable the seal says something
like "won bon de jo pil". Then there is something in

원본대조필 means 'original copy'. There is a good chance it cays something along the lines of the original copy was seen or taken or something along those lines.

cloneslad

Sabastien wrote: »

Who or what is a Commissioner of Oaths? I really prefer this option. God forbid I have to do it in Korea.

Each town has quite a few of them. I just went to a solicitor and asked them if they were a commissioner of oaths. the receptionist said he wasn't but he could still sign it. I told them I specifically need a commissioner of oaths so she told me the name of some in the town (the one I used was a pharmacist).

You could give a call to the office of the supreme court and ask them for some in your home town and get a family member to get it signed for you. (The supreme court gave me a list of them surrounding the four courts the first year I went up without mine signed)

sweetthing

Hey guys! Accepted a job offer in Korea. Delighted to finally get going on this! In fact I was offered two jobs, but this one seemed to suit me more. They now want me to send on my documents to Korean immigration through DHL/FedEx, which is looking like a princely enough cost (around 65 euro according to DHL's website). Does that pricing sound about right from Ireland to Korea? And is it common for schools to request this? Just trying to cut down costs with my visa application here. Anyone know of any other way to get my docs to Korean immigration by courier?

cloneslad

I paid €63 and it got there the day after or something like that.

They all request using on eof the couriers. The great thing about them is that they won't open the sealed transcripts which used to regularly happen with the post office thus rendering them void. Of course the transcripts are not needed now so it does seem pricey for a document.

You could just send them through the post office on a priority / registered mail. It will take a few days longer but it will have a tracking number allowing you to keep an eye on it over the internet.

If the documents need to be there urgently then I would suggest Fedex as I don't know how quick the post office is.

sweetthing

Thanks Cloneslad! Think I'll use DHL, it isn't a major cost when you put it in context of the cost of a visa..I remember the admin charges for my J1 visa being far more than that!

cloneslad

don't forget you will have to pay another €40 or so for the actual visa to be put in your passport.

sweetthing

Ya, just saw that posted earlier in the thread...oh well, who needs vaccinations sure?!!

virmilitaris

sweetthing wrote: »

Ya, just saw that posted earlier in the thread...oh well, who needs vaccinations sure?!!

I would never suggest not getting any vaccinations to someone else, but ...

When I went to my GP he wanted to give me vaccinations for malaria, rabies etc. Now you have as much chance of catching rabies here as you have in Ireland and malaria is nonexistent except in very small pockets near the DMZ.

I'm not saying don't get them but it's not the rain forest your heading to

cloneslad

virmilitaris wrote: »

I'm not saying don't get them but it's not the rain forest your heading to


Don't get them, you don't need them and if you plan on travelling around S.E asia after you have been here then you will need them, but it's cheaper to get them done in Korea than Ireland.

FYP to what everyone over here is thinking

virmilitaris

Hey everyone.

Just to let you know about another position.

http://www.worknplay.co.kr/view_JOB.php?sect=2&id=testjob&sele=&p=1&keyfield=&keyword=&no=192181&cateCode=&slist=1&keyword_top=&gally=3&job_sel=&type_sel=&loca1_sel=&loca2_sel=&loca3_sel=

Benefits & Conditions:
1. A fully furnished single housing in the vicinity of the school. We will provide the basic furniture such as a bed(double), TV, A/C, closet.
2. 9 days of paid vacation + all Korean national holidays
3. If you are currently overseas, we will pay for your plane ticket to Korea upon visa approval. Upon completion of the one year contract, we will fly you back home or any location in which the instructor desires within the same cost. For those who are already in Korea, we will pay for your visa run ticket, hotel and the visa cost.
4. 50% Korean pension and 50% Medical insurance
5. A minimum starting salary of 2.1 per month. Pay is negotiable based on your teaching experience. Severance pay which is equal to one month’s salary will be paid upon a year contract completion
6. Working hours: Monday to Friday 1:00 – 8:30 or 1:30 – 9:00 / up to 12 Saturdays per year

Current Openings:
1. Daechi (Line 3) starting Dec 1, 2010
2. Hongdae (Line 2 Hongdae station) starting Dec 1, 2010
3. Eunpyung (Line 6 Yeokchon station) starting Dec 1, 2010

Please send your resume and a recent picture to ceo0909@naver.com

Any of those locations is good. Anyone interested in nightlife might be particularly interested in Hongdae which is the main student area in Seoul, well one of the main ones.

Regarding the 9 days holidays + all Korean national holidays. It's usually 10 and don't get fooled by the 'all' Korean national holidays.

Korean national holidays go by the (Korean) Lunar calendar which means that national holidays can fall on weekends and they don't move them to weekdays. So that means that if a national holiday is on a Saturday or Sunday you don't get any time off for that holiday that you wouldn't already have.

This year I think we got 8 out of a possible 14.

Dictaband

Read through this thread whilst trying to sort out some plan for the next few years.The idea of all this seems very interesting,is it as wonderful and easy as it sounds?

In my final year of a Law and German degree with no clue what to do in a years time.Masters seem to be the option being taken by a lot of my friends although nobody is sure if they're worth much with the jobs market these days being so saturated and a lack of connections meaning there are no guarantees, many of them are regretting this route already just 4 weeks into their post grads so I'm trying to basically find alternatives,teaching abroad seems a nice one.

There is an option for me to go teach English next summer in Germany,but I must apply and hope that it works out.Would a basic bachelor plus TEFL/CELTA(don't know much about it all to be honest)be worth much,or is an English degree with some teaching experience the prerequisite?Bachelor in Law and German,plus perhaps this teaching experience would be enough to get me to Asia for a year?Applying for a Masters I may never use,doesn't seem like it will lead to quite such an experience.

Any info would be great!

cloneslad

A degree in stamp collecting and nose picking is enough to get you a visa as long as it comes from a university of IT in Ireland, England, South Africa, N.Z, OZ, U.S or Canada.


You would not even need a TEFL /Celta to get a job though it would be of some help to yourself by making your classes easier to teach etc.

The degree is only to get the visa it's not to get the job. Getting the job is just a matter of applying to as many as possible and also getting in touch with lots of recruiters.


KOrea is not for everyone, but in my own experience, for every 1 that doesn't like it, there are about 500 who do.

sweetthing

I'm not saying don't get them but it's not the rain forest your heading to

Cheers virmilitaris and cloneslad, was wondering how necessary the jabs would be alright. Was in Sri Lanka twice and never got any for that and was okay. Have either of you heard of cases where someone went over without getting vaccinated and caught something?